As Hurricane Florence is gearing up to hit Virginia later this week, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam declared a state of emergency on Saturday, Sept. 8 in response to to the anticipation of then Tropical Storm Florence.
Florence has since been upgraded to a Category four Hurricane, according to the Weather Channel.
With predicted extreme winds and rainfall set to hit Farmville, Va. on Thursday, Sept. 13, Longwood announced on Tuesday afternoon, Sept. 11 classes will be cancelled starting at 2 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 13. In addition, upcoming Family Weekend is cancelled with no rescheduled date. Convocation will be moved up to 3 p.m. from 4 p.m.
According to Assistant Vice President of Communications Matt McWilliams, Longwood will still host Casino Night in Lankford Student Union on Friday, Sept. 14 and Magician Daniel Martin on Saturday night, Sept. 15 although Family Weekend has been cancelled.
Longwood will ask employees to report on an essential personnel basis on Friday, Sept. 14., as stated in a Longwood alert.
Although the university is closed, Longwood has assured maintenance staff, police, residence hall staff and food services staff will be available for students, also stated in the alert.
“The staff is gearing up with backup generators with emergency lighting, food service is preparing in case that is down, all of the Aramark staff is looking to make sure they have plenty of water supplies and food staples to feed the campus,” said Vice President of Student Affairs Dr. Tim Pierson.
According to McWilliams, Longwood has no plan to evacuate.
Per Pierson, Longwood students should feel safe staying put whereas going home may be a worse situation.
“We are confident that the campus will be a safe place for students,” said Pierson. “They’re (residence halls) not built like a house, they are concrete and steel so they’re pretty sturdy.”
Pierson said Willett Hall would be the obvious choice to serve as a shelter and would be used if needed by Longwood students but “that has not been decided”.
Willett Hall also serves as a state shelter.
“So the state can actually assign someone there but they haven’t as of yet,” said Pierson.
Pierson said Longwood is taking precautions when it comes to the storm.
“We are just trying to reassure students that we are looking into every possible thing that we can in terms of making these decisions,” said Pierson.
Longwood stated in the alert they will monitor the storm as it gets closer.
“We will continue to communicate over the coming days as we learn more about the forecast and road conditions around Virginia,” stated in the alert.
Continue to follow The Rotunda for more updates.
Hurricane Florence is set to hit Virginia Thursday evening, according to The Weather Channel.
